Dive Brief:

• Today, it's a cornerstone, but by the end of 2017, one of the largest construction projects in Dutch history will be a 350-foot-tall, 811,000-square-foot office building for the European Patent Office.
• The patent office is headquartered in Munich, Germany, but it describes the building in the town of Rijswijk as its "main building" and says it will replace a smaller installation in the Netherlands.
• Patent office President Benoît Battistelli and Dutch Prime Minister Rutte laid the cornerstone Wednesday for the building that is expected to cost €205 million – all of it from EPO funds. 

Dive Insight:

The design for the international agency's building is itself international, a joint product of French architect Jean Nouvel and Dutch architect Diederik Dam. The patent office says the building will be a standard-setter for sustainable office buildings.